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ArniMarine · 08-30-2010, 12:45 AM

Road Updates from the recently concluded Kerala-Tamil Nadu trip I had:

As of 25/08/2010

Bangalore - Munnar (NH 7/NH 47/ TN SH -96/ TN SH -37/TN SH -87 -471 kms)

Bangalore - Salem (NH 7 - 206 kms)
As already discussed, the roads are good in terms of conditions but heavy traffic on both sides can slow down your speeds! The curves after Krishnagiri are called as dangerous and even though you wont find them to be dangerous if you are a hill rider, yet you can find an odd truck crashed on the sides! I saw two of them, one while going, another one while coming back

Salem - Perundurai (NH 47 - 85 kms)
NH 47 is butter smooth after Salem and mostly with less curves and low traffic. 120 is easily doable on this stretch. This goes straight down to Coimbatore and I guess its the same all the way.
Be careful while at Salem, coz there are hardly any proper signboards leading to NH 47, any miss and you can land up straight to NH 7 taking you to Madurai. We missed it and had to come back after riding 6 kms on NH 7.

Perundurai - Kangayam (SH 96 - 33 kms)
Be alert while on NH 47 to take a left turn for Perundurai town from the service road. This should come around 80 kms from Salem. Any miss can take you through the bypass to Coimbatore! Signboards are prominent and you wont miss it if careful.
The road is a single lane one with plenty of settlements in between.The conditions are good but village traffic can cut down your speed and 70 k's should be safe unless you are a city ripper and master at cutting through people!

Kangayam - Dharapuram (SH 37 -32 kms)
Double lane but not really wide. Condition is really good without any major potholes. Hardly any traffic on this road, so 100-120 can be done here enjoying the village surroundings

Dharapuram - Udumalpet (SH 21/SH 97 - 41 kms)
Udumalpet is angliced as Udumalaipettai nd you cant find out that place if you go with the angliced pronounciation!Even google maps has it as Udumalaipettai.
Google maps shows a straight road from Dharapuram to udumalpet by SH 87, but we were suggested by a Tavera driver to take the 28 kms of SH 21 to Gudimangalam and then head to Udumalpet (12kms). We took it and it was a heaven to ride!Clean two lanes with nice Windmills all around and hardly any traffic. The direct road was broken as per the driver.

Udumalpet - Munnar (86 kms)
This 86 took us a lifetime to reach! The road starts meandering from Udumalpet without too much of traffic and leads to the entry point of the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve.Be ready for some questionnaire from the guards here.
After the entry gate the road gets narrower and narrower as you go up and down the dense forests.After the scribbling at the Kerala entry check point the road gets a bit wider but often full of potholes and sharp curves.This route is fascinating if you are a nature lover but the tarmac isnt really friendly. This can take as much as four hours if you plan to stop for photo breaks in between.

Munnar - Kumily - Thekkady (120 kms)
Initial 30 kms consists of occasional broken roads riding up and down the scenic gap points, valleys with tea gardens and Periyakanal waterfall. Doing a 40 kmph is decent here.
After this the road divides for Madurai and Kumily, take the Kumily route with amazing roads to follow.Neat two lanes without too much of ascent or decent, one gets a feeling of riding in the plains with curvy roads.60 kmph is doable here with the wide corners all over.
After you reach the town of Kumily head towards Thekkady which is an extension of Kumily and just 4 kms away.

Thekkady - Thrissur (NH 220/KL SH 44/KL SH 8/KL SH 1/NH 47 -218 kms)

Kumily - Vandiperiyar - Mundakayam -Kanjirapally - Erattupetta - Muttom - Thoduphuzha (NH 220/ KL SH 44 - 116 kms)

10-15 kms after Kumily on NH 220(leads to Kottayam) is in pathetic condition!
Full of potholes and extremely bumpy ride, cannot believe this to be a NH!
The roads get better before Vandiperiyar with tea gardens around and clean twisties in between.Head straight on NH 220 till Mundakayam with some nice ascent and some waterfalls enroute. This is not a rippers paradise, full of sharp curves and uneven terrain at times, be careful of the KSRTC buses plying enroute, they can get you killed by pushing you to a 200 feet fall!
After Mundakayam the roads get better as you finally bid goodbye to the hills and head to the Kerala plains.The stretch about 10 kms before Kanjirapally is very smooth and again 80- 100 is possible on this.
After taking a right turn from NH 220 and joining SH 44 for Erattupetta from Kanjirapally, the roads turn really bad. Completely bumpy and full of settlements all around.They will make you irritated with the maintenance of roads at Kerala.Anything above 70 for an average on this roads can be dangerous.
Erattupetta is just another town with narrow and congested roads all around.
After leaving this place the roads started getting better, some more small hill riding and then you land up to an absolute brilliant two lane highway which continues till Muttom and up to Thoduphuzha

There is another route from Kumily to Thoduphuzha via Idukki and Kulamavu using the SH 43.Idukki is a beautiful place but I heard the roads were broken so didnt take the risk. If anyone takes this route then please update the recent conditions.

Thoduphuzha - Mavattuphuzha -Angamaly - Chalakudy- Thrissur (SH 8/SH 1/NH 47 -101 kms)
The brilliant two lanes which started before Thoduphuzha continues till Mavattuphuzha. After Mavattuphuzha SH1 takes over and is equally good in terms of conditions but with slightly heavier traffic. 80-90 is safe on these roads.
Take a left turn on NH 47 from Angamaly and continue till Chalakudy. The NH is full of heavy traffic at this stretch and also a number of diversions and broken roads due to broadening of NH 47.Continue from Chalakudy for about 14 kms and then take a left to join a single lane road leading to Thrissur City.This road is again heavy with traffic and max speed can be 60-70 here.

..to be continued

08-30-2010, 12:45 AM	#171 (permalink)
ArniMarine Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 122	Road Updates from the recently concluded Kerala-Tamil Nadu trip I had: *As of 25/08/2010* Bangalore - Munnar (NH 7/NH 47/ TN SH -96/ TN SH -37/TN SH -87 -471 kms) Bangalore - Salem (NH 7 - 206 kms) As already discussed, the roads are good in terms of conditions but heavy traffic on both sides can slow down your speeds! The curves after Krishnagiri are called as dangerous and even though you wont find them to be dangerous if you are a hill rider, yet you can find an odd truck crashed on the sides! I saw two of them, one while going, another one while coming back Salem - Perundurai (NH 47 - 85 kms) NH 47 is butter smooth after Salem and mostly with less curves and low traffic. 120 is easily doable on this stretch. This goes straight down to Coimbatore and I guess its the same all the way. Be careful while at Salem, coz there are hardly any proper signboards leading to NH 47, any miss and you can land up straight to NH 7 taking you to Madurai. We missed it and had to come back after riding 6 kms on NH 7. Perundurai - Kangayam (SH 96 - 33 kms) Be alert while on NH 47 to take a left turn for Perundurai town from the service road. This should come around 80 kms from Salem. Any miss can take you through the bypass to Coimbatore! Signboards are prominent and you wont miss it if careful. The road is a single lane one with plenty of settlements in between.The conditions are good but village traffic can cut down your speed and 70 k's should be safe unless you are a city ripper and master at cutting through people! Kangayam - Dharapuram (SH 37 -32 kms) Double lane but not really wide. Condition is really good without any major potholes. Hardly any traffic on this road, so 100-120 can be done here enjoying the village surroundings Dharapuram - Udumalpet (SH 21/SH 97 - 41 kms) Udumalpet is angliced as Udumalaipettai nd you cant find out that place if you go with the angliced pronounciation!Even google maps has it as Udumalaipettai. Google maps shows a straight road from Dharapuram to udumalpet by SH 87, but we were suggested by a Tavera driver to take the 28 kms of SH 21 to Gudimangalam and then head to Udumalpet (12kms). We took it and it was a heaven to ride!Clean two lanes with nice Windmills all around and hardly any traffic. The direct road was broken as per the driver. Udumalpet - Munnar (86 kms) This 86 took us a lifetime to reach! The road starts meandering from Udumalpet without too much of traffic and leads to the entry point of the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve.Be ready for some questionnaire from the guards here. After the entry gate the road gets narrower and narrower as you go up and down the dense forests.After the scribbling at the Kerala entry check point the road gets a bit wider but often full of potholes and sharp curves.This route is fascinating if you are a nature lover but the tarmac isnt really friendly. This can take as much as four hours if you plan to stop for photo breaks in between. Munnar - Kumily - Thekkady (120 kms) Initial 30 kms consists of occasional broken roads riding up and down the scenic gap points, valleys with tea gardens and Periyakanal waterfall. Doing a 40 kmph is decent here. After this the road divides for Madurai and Kumily, take the Kumily route with amazing roads to follow.Neat two lanes without too much of ascent or decent, one gets a feeling of riding in the plains with curvy roads.60 kmph is doable here with the wide corners all over. After you reach the town of Kumily head towards Thekkady which is an extension of Kumily and just 4 kms away. *Thekkady - Thrissur (NH 220/KL SH 44/KL SH 8/KL SH 1/NH 47 -218 kms)* Kumily - Vandiperiyar - Mundakayam -Kanjirapally - Erattupetta - Muttom - Thoduphuzha (NH 220/ KL SH 44 - 116 kms) 10-15 kms after Kumily on NH 220(leads to Kottayam) is in pathetic condition! Full of potholes and extremely bumpy ride, cannot believe this to be a NH! The roads get better before Vandiperiyar with tea gardens around and clean twisties in between.Head straight on NH 220 till Mundakayam with some nice ascent and some waterfalls enroute. This is not a rippers paradise, full of sharp curves and uneven terrain at times, be careful of the KSRTC buses plying enroute, they can get you killed by pushing you to a 200 feet fall! After Mundakayam the roads get better as you finally bid goodbye to the hills and head to the Kerala plains.The stretch about 10 kms before Kanjirapally is very smooth and again 80- 100 is possible on this. After taking a right turn from NH 220 and joining SH 44 for Erattupetta from Kanjirapally, the roads turn really bad. Completely bumpy and full of settlements all around.They will make you irritated with the maintenance of roads at Kerala.Anything above 70 for an average on this roads can be dangerous. Erattupetta is just another town with narrow and congested roads all around. After leaving this place the roads started getting better, some more small hill riding and then you land up to an absolute brilliant two lane highway which continues till Muttom and up to Thoduphuzha There is another route from Kumily to Thoduphuzha via Idukki and Kulamavu using the SH 43.Idukki is a beautiful place but I heard the roads were broken so didnt take the risk. If anyone takes this route then please update the recent conditions. Thoduphuzha - Mavattuphuzha -Angamaly - Chalakudy- Thrissur (SH 8/SH 1/NH 47 -101 kms) The brilliant two lanes which started before Thoduphuzha continues till Mavattuphuzha. After Mavattuphuzha SH1 takes over and is equally good in terms of conditions but with slightly heavier traffic. 80-90 is safe on these roads. Take a left turn on NH 47 from Angamaly and continue till Chalakudy. The NH is full of heavy traffic at this stretch and also a number of diversions and broken roads due to broadening of NH 47.Continue from Chalakudy for about 14 kms and then take a left to join a single lane road leading to Thrissur City.This road is again heavy with traffic and max speed can be 60-70 here. ..to be continued __________________ Thanks, *Arni* My Adventures : Enchanted at Bhutan My Clicks! --------------------------------------------------- Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover- Mark Twain